Can I sue Hospital who sent me to collections department because they messed up?

Question

I paid what I owed to the hospital I used to go to, and I have the receipt for it. I then moved home, and got some mail forwarded to my new home (sent to old address) that said that I now have a negative credit report reflecting on my credit.

I have the receipt, so I know they f'ed up and I'm really angry.

I called the Interstate Debt Managers that sent me the letter, but they keep transfering me to voice mails and not returning my call.

Can i sue them for messing up my credit?

thanks!

Answer 1

You can dispute inaccurancies on your credit report in writing. Contact the credit bureau(s) to which this was reported for more info.

Answer 2

For starters, the reason debt collectors get away with harassing consumers is because way too many people have a attitude like Chessmaster.....too timid to fight back...to lazy to do some research.  It only takes a bit of education to realize you can sue these people very easily, and all of your court costs and attorney fees are paid back in court costs by the collector.  

So we can ignore his answer.

The rest are on target, but missing one MAJOR point  You MUST dispute this debt with the credit bureau.  At the same time send a letter to the collection agency.  You want them to send you specifics about what this debt is for, and compare it to what your receipt supposedly paid for.

When dealing with hospital/medical bills, it's very easy to have a stray bill from some consulting doctor show up, or many some lab bills that didn't get sent out.  Be sure you have your facts straight before filing a lawsuit.

If the validation paperwork shows that you truely did pay this debt, and they won't remove it from your report, then file a lawsuit.  If this debt is for a hefty amount of money, consider hiring an attorney familiar with FDCA lawsuits and see if they will work on a contingency basis.  There is a growing number of attorneys doing this, because these are very easy to win suits and they collect their attorney fees when you win.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Like I would say, if you have the money to hire a hefty tefty lawyer, go ahead...If they are unjust it'll work, but do clearify it with the hospital before doing it, suing someeone is not so easy watch out! You better have your guard up as well they are not stupid.

But again, if it's truly their mistake then sure go ahead.

I still think suing is not a good approach, trust me I was once going to sue the bank and I thought otherwise, it turned out to be a confusion and not something BIG!

And one more thing, sueing and all requires too much time and involvement and tons of cash...if you've got that...sure do it. Again, not worth it in my opinion

Answer 4

Instead I would write a letter to the billing department with a COPY of my receipt.  You should also dispute the charge with the 3 major credit bureaus again with a copy of the receipt.  If you dispute & the hospital cannot prove the debt to the credit bureaus they have to, by Federal Law, remove it.

Good luck!

Answer 5

First, contact the hospital and find out why they turned you to collections when you have a reciept.  That may take care of the problem.

If not, send the collector a certified, return receipt letter requesting validation of the debt to include the name of the original creditor, date of first deficience, date of last activity/payment, a detailed account statement, and copies of contracts or other documentation that proves the debt is yours.  You should probably indicate that you have receipts for the hospital bill and do not owe.  Give them 30 days.

If they fail to respond, send a dispute to the credit bureau attaching a copy of your validation requesting, indicating that they failed to validate.